Day 9: Idarne & Akure

Yesterday morning we were all somewhat drowsy after our broken nights sleep. (See previous post). We had breakfast and headed off to Idarne so that I could lead assembly at the primary school where Lucy (Tolu's wife) is Principal. It is about half an hour from Akure and considered more of a village area. Consequently the children are very unused to seeing an Oyeebo (white man) and they were almost at fever pitch by the time that we arrived. I led the assembly on the story of Zaccheus and afterwards we had photos with the staff.

From there we went to the other end of Idarne where we were to climb one of the many hills that surround the town. This part of the highlands in South Western Nigeria is most unusual with rounded mountains of solid rock forming a quasi lunar landscape. I need a geologist to interpret for me - but it must be the result of volcanic activity. We climbed the 660 steps to the first plateau and wandered into a deserted village where the community that became Idarne had lived until the 1920s. It was fascinating and in most countries would be a major theme park or museum - here it is virtually unknown and all the more interesting for that. There is no tourism industry to speak of and Idarne is another place ignored by my otherwise excellent guide book.

We descended the mountain in increasingly heavy rain and returned via Lucy's school where we had a detour to meet the local Oba or King (more like the Chief of the Chiefs from what I can work out). It was a brief and friendly visit.

Back to Akure to change into dry clothes and then to the Cyber Cafe where I passed three hours of desperate frustration and increasingly losing the will to live where once again I failed to upload any photos. (This post and the previous one are being composed on the morning of October 15th in a different cafe in the centre of town. Fingers crossed it seems a bit better.)

In the evening we went to meet the Bishop of Akure and his wife Julie. Bishopscourt is in the government part of town and they received us in a relaxed and pleasant manner: we drank tea with milk (!) sitting outside. I presented Bishop Michael with a book and a letter from the Bishop of Manchester. Akure is linked with Liverpool Diocese and + Michael knows both Manchester and Liverpool well. He is going to arrange for me to stay with one of his clergy for a few days next week which I am greatly looking forward to. We had a pleasant hour there and almost avoided the dreaded subject which so exercises the Church of Nigeria at this time. I did not take the bait although I would like to have a “full and frank” discussion with him at a later meeting. This was a very positive introduction and I did not wish to mar it in any way. We took our leave and although it was past 7pm and pitch dark, we called at a friend of Tolu’s where we collected eggs and plantain from their farm before we finally arrived home. Supper was egg and chips – perfectly delicious though I think that it was a concession to the Oyeebo. Incidentally, everybody calls potatoes IRISH POTATOES. Bed about 1030.

Day 10: Thursday Oct 15 - Akure

I have ranted on elsewhere about our 5am visitor so I will jump straight to breakfast after which we headed into town for Tolu to go to his office and for me – accompanied by Titi - to try a new cyber café. It is better than the local one though still not without difficulties - not least the problem of trying to upload photos. Spent a couple of hours there then came home for a quiet afternoon and a snooze. I spent half an hour collecting water from the well in our garden. Every drop that we pour down the loo or use in washing and cooking has to be drawn by hand from the well in a small bucket, poured into larger buckets, and then carried to our first floor apartment - usually on the head and usually by the girls in the family. You will not be surprised to discover that women work far harder than men in this culture. One would soon get fed up of this pre-industrial lifestyle: not only do the majority of people not have running water but neither to they have reliable electricity. We have not had power for 24 hours now: fridges are defrosting, laptops and mobiles are running out of juice. Greg/Tolu did my washing for me the other day - sitting outside with three large bowls and doing the whole thing by hand. It could have been 1909, 1809, 1709 - what would be different?
At 5pm yesterday I went with one of our neighbours to the nearby All Souls church to lead their youth bible study. It is a relati

vely new parish in a very basic church building. There were about 10 young people there - perhaps 20 by the time we finished - which was ironic as the given subject was punctuality..............(continued in next post)
(I have tried and failed three times to upload one small picture into this post - I am giving up!)